Thank you to Dani, without whom this trip wouldn’t have been possible of course. I can’t do this stuff on my own, not even being able to look after myself, let alone the girls.

So far it’s been like it should- a family together having an awful lot of fun, without discontent. We’re spending so much time together and it demonstrates how close we all should be all of the time.

The snow’s all gone a bit sticky and slushy, as is normal for the end of the season, and April.

The extra grip that the snow now gives me ( as in my pole-skis ) makes turning much faster, tho ‘over-steering ‘  – that’s where you turn too much and end up pointing up the slope, then sliding down backwards and crashing … far more likely too.

Anyway as I have always been aware that talking about technique stuff can be terminally boring for those really not interested ( and have felt my eyes glaze over and wished myself dead in the company of some ….golfers ) I won’t go on about it. The upshot is that it was by far the best day on sitdownskis that I’ve had so far. Hardly any crashes, more turns, more speed and a black run a couple of times ( Kandahar – World Cup Downhill run ). I’m a fair bit slower than Lily ( who has suddenly realised the Dawkins ski gene ) and is looking very good.. and Amber too ( less style but a reckless mentality.

I’ll improve far more in the next four days than they will however, so we’ll see.

I’ve realised perhaps where my girls get it from.

Q. Which warriors believed their dead went to Valhalla?

Dani: Do you mean Van Halen?

Q. What kind of creature was Rikki-Tikki-Tavi ?

Dani: Ricky Dicky Derby? Never heard of him….

Meanwhile..

What Scandinavian country has a flag with a blue background and a Scandinavian cross?

Amber: Pakistan?

My right leg has been going crazy quite a lot today. I think that in the process of getting the right boot on, my fourth toe may have been bent double, and stayed that way for 8 hours. It’s looking a not healthy colour at the moment and my right leg is very animated…

My tummy has gone back to being super super sensitive to the lightest touch.

Sleep tonight may not be plentiful

I’ve had worse first days on the snow since my  reinvention as a satdownskier.  The  overly priced ski poles that I bought from America, at first seemed totally bemusingly useless in every way and on the first turn I piled off the edge of the piste and into the grass and mud headfirst and semi upside down. Having my in fact usual optimism ( that isn’t always apparant ) that immediate crash led to a massive disappointment. As my spasms had returned with a vengeance in the night, and continued ever since, along with a return of the extreme tenderness of my stomach, I could have done without a terrible start to be honest.   My guide ( who had NOT recommended ‘ American stab’s ‘ ) suddenly seemed to have been justified. He skied me down, basically ‘ driving me along ‘ and onto the chairlift, and there we had a conversation about reverting to the French stab’s.  I’d had a pretty good look at the construction of the stab’s but I’d missed, as had J-J the guide, an Alun key adjustable screw  that transformed the things from f’ing useless to pretty passable , and that was  the effect on my satdownskiig.  Extraordinarily the stab’s had come with no guide  to adjustment, you were supposed to just work it out…. especially noticing the all important screw that was in a recess and virtually invisible.

I’d brought my own pre injury carving skis ( that I loved ) and they were now the pair that I was ‘on ‘.  The psychological effect of seeing something familiar below me was a positive for sure.

Thereafter it steadily got better,  really . The snow now is basically kind of hard’ish slush, but it does give my skis and pole-skis some traction,  though is totally different to stuff I’ve been sat down on before. Just like regular skiing, you have to get used to different snow and the way you have to ski on it, though it’s a damn sight easier when you have two legs that work, two skis that you can adjust independently, and a trunk that you can move in a variety of directions ( please no elephants- on -skis jokes ).  I continued to fall over, but less often, and my last run was my best – a thing that hasn’t happened before!

Somebody also found Amber’s phone in the snow and I beat Lily at Trivial Pursuits ( yes, she had the  kids’ questions and me the grown up ones )

So on reflection though not a great  day by a long, long stretch, it could’ve been worse, and should ( in theory ) get better.

Right?

As usual my optimism was unfounded and I spawned all night long.

So I start my ski feeling jaded and tired.

At least I’m familiar with that.

Having no instructor to help me/ pull me up when I crash and end up upside down, I couldn’t sitski in the first day. Lily kept me company and Dani and Amber skied for a few hours.

It wasn’t long before Amber had lost her phone…. not the first time that has happened. Never mind, it’s only a thing.

Tomorrow I get to start at 9am and hopefully get a few hours, it being only a half day opportunity for me.

My spasms have stopped. For the first time in many months touching my lower stomach region doesn’t result in my legs jerking. That’s a bloody relief I can tell you. I don’t take it for granted that it will last, but dearly hope that it will.

I’m glad that the British education system is doing my daughters proud.

We played a bit of Trivial Pursuits this morning.

‘ What bodily part do invertebrates NOT have? ‘

Amber (12) : Arms?

‘Which British city do Glaswegians come from?’

Lily (14)  : Glaswegia?

‘People who have hydrophobia are afraid of what?’

Amber : Spiders?

I think that girls these days perhaps take more notice of adverts and fashion than they do their teachers..

Amber : ‘ How long til we get to the Chanel Tunnel….?’

Good Lord

We left London at 4.50am, for France.

Dani was driving.

Having got to Felixstowe, there were no signs for the Channel Tunnel.

We then drove 131 miles to Folkstone, and found that there were lots of signs for it there….